Koishii
by LoSinG-CoNscIoUsnEsS
Summary: Sasuke didn't know what irritating truly was until he had met her... "Tch, annoying," he rolled his eyes. Sakura fumed from above him, "You know, you shouldn't insult the person about to conduct surgery on you, I might accidentally slit your throat." Sasusaku, non-massacre.
1. Chapter 1

**O** Koishii **O**

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 _"What a strange thing!_  
 _to be alive_  
 _beneath cherry blossoms."_

 _-Kobayashi Issa_

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 **O** Prologue **O**

Mikoto glanced out the window, eyeing the pouring rain and gray skies, before rushing over to the door. She had no idea who could be knocking, after all her family was more casual about entering the house.

"Coming," she tsked, reaching her chakra out to analyze the person. The signature was foreign and suppressed into a tiny, muffled dot, meaning the stranger was concealing their whole chakra and had very good control.

Mikoto creaked her door open and peered out into the watery landscape, the dreary morning sky, and a very wet mop of pink hair.

"Ohayo," the girl bowed, her strands falling forward and nearly dripping water into the Uchiha house.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow, staring at this new face, "Ohayo," she replied warily.

"Eto," the girl hesitated, shuffling through a couple of papers, "I've come to see Uchiha Sasuke regarding his physical."

Mikoto scrunched her face and sighed. Oh, so it was just another fangirl, she thought as she patted her now frizzing hair. The older woman had to agree though, this excuse was pretty good, she had almost believed the girl.

"Dear, Sasuke is not interested in you," Mikoto said with an exasperated sigh, "Please leave, have a nice day," she smiled.

The girl blinked, her brow creasing, before a tinkling laugh fell out of her lips, "Oh, oh no. Gomen, I forgot to mention, my name is Haruno Sakura, I am the Godaime's apprentice. I'm _really_ here for Sasuke-san's physical, he hasn't had one, well, for five years now."

The older Uchiha's eyes widened at the name. So, this girl was Haruno Sakura.

After Tsunade became Hokage, there were many rumors about a new apprentice the sanin had taken up, but no one had actually seen her. It turned out that this apprentice, Sakura, had been running errands for the Hokage, trying to fix up the debt the slug princess had around the nations.

Thus, Sakura had only arrived recently, around two weeks ago. Not surprisingly, however, as soon as she came, Sakura began changing the whole medical system of Konoha, restoring it to its former glory.

"Oh goodness," Mikoto laughed, "I am so sorry, we have so many fangirls come knocking at our door and I didn't recognize you. Please come in."

Sakura smiled, entering the warm and dry house, "No it's my fault, Uchiha-san."

"Mikoto," the woman said kindly, taking the girl's coat from her.

"Hai, Mikoto-san, I should have introduced myself first."

Sakura looked around the wooden house of the Uchiha head family. It was traditional and plain, with photos hanging in one corner of the wall, and a blue large vase underneath it. There were a lot of antique furniture and accessories, obviously many years old. It was tastefully decorated and had a comforting feeling of home.

The older Uchiha grabbed Sakura by the elbow, gently pulling her through a corridor that was parallel to a large courtyard on the left side. She followed Mikoto for a few moments, before turning right towards a bamboo screen door. Opening it revealed the plain and practical kitchen, with a table located in the center for more casual meals. Sakura's eyes immediately rested on the person sitting there.

"Itachi," Mikoto said, causing the boy to look up, "This is Haruno Sakura, Sakura this is my older son, Itachi."

The pink haired girl smiled at the boy, "Hai, we've met before."

He nodded, "It's good to see you again."

Mikoto smiled, gently pushing Sakura to sit in the chair across from Itachi, "Great, then do you mind keeping Sakura company while I go get Sasuke? She has business to attend with him."

Mikoto left the room, leaving the two shinobi alone in the kitchen. He watched as she briefly glanced at some of the open scrolls on the table, surprise apparent in her eyes when she realized they weren't mission reports but actually questions.

Green eyes met black, as the two shared a look, "Strategical exam?" Sakura questioned taking the scroll Itachi handed to her.

"Hn," he said leaning back in his chair, "You should it take it as well."

He knew that Sakura had passed the anbu entrance exam. In fact, he had been an administrator for one part of it. She was undeniably good, with only a small lack in elemental ninjutsu which some training could probably fix.

She would need to expand her chakra stores as well, but from the diamond seal on her forehead, something told him she was keeping her real potential hidden.

She was a low class anbu though, not specialized like himself or even Sasuke. Sakura didn't have a team yet and most of the missions she had gone on were personally assigned to her by her shishou. But, Itachi supposed that was alright, since he had heard she was busy cleaning up the hospital with Shizune.

"But I don't want to become captain," Sakura said fingering the edge of the paper.

It was time for re-examining in the anbu department, where many shinobi had to retake their tests in order to confirm their position. For captain, he would have to receive a certain score on the strategical exam in order to remain in his station.

But this examining time would also mean chances to be placed in a specialized department. Anbu had no medical section, in fact Sakura was the only medic in anbu. Thus, her second best option would be the intelligence and strategical division.

"It's not only for that," Itachi said, "If you do well, you can specialize in strategy, Nara is there currently."

With sharp dark eyes he watched as she thought about his suggestion, obviously considering it a good one because of her limited options related to her skill set.

"Where can I get these," she said pointing at Itachi's little pile of scrolls.

The dark haired boy smirked at her choice, handing her a few, "Take these for now. Ask Nara, and search through the library, I'm sure the Hokage has some as well."

The girl looked up at him and grinned, taking the scrolls from his hand and hiding them inside her pouch, "Arigato, Itachi-san!"

The duo suddenly turned to look at the door, their chakra tingling from the new signatures that were arriving in the kitchen. The screen slid open slowly, revealing a very annoyed Sasuke with damp hair and his mother following in the back.

"Gomen, Sakura! He was taking a bath and refused to hurry up," she spoke, sending a glare to her son.

Sasuke sighed, raising an eyebrow at the visitor who had come to see him. He honestly didn't know what this pink head's problem was, she had been badgering him about a physical examination for the past couple of days. He didn't care much for it; medical stuff was useless in his opinion, just a stupid formality.

"Sasuke-san," the girl said standing up, as the boy moved towards the fridge to get a bottle of water, "You've missed all of your appointments with me for your physical examination."

Sasuke tsked, and drank from his water not bothering to look at the girl. Mikoto and Itachi looked on curiously at the situation, exchanging a glance with each other.

"It's a waste of my time," he sighed, looking into the fridge.

Sakura's fists clenched, "Well, unfortunately, because I didn't have any medical records or information to hand into anbu, I had to deem you unfit for active duty, and you will be suspended from anbu until I clear you for service."

The young Uchiha's back stiffened from his spot as he slowly turned around to glare at her with his sharingan activated, "You can't do that. I'm your superior," he said in a low voice, eyes nearly slits and knuckles white from clenching the fridge door.

Sakura indifferently flicked her hair back, "Well yes, in anbu you are. But at the hospital I'm the head, and therefore far out-rank you in areas that actually matter. In fact, I have more power than you think, so next time please don't waste _my_ time."

Sasuke stalked towards her, towering over her tiny frame, as Itachi and Mikoto watched on with hidden amusement.

"I'll complain to the Hokage," he said, jaw clenched.

Sakura smiled at him sweetly, "Go ahead."

Ignoring the hovering Uchiha, she bowed deeply towards Itachi and Mikoto, "Thank you for your hospitality," she said before spinning on her heel and leaving the kitchen.

Silence seeped through the room as Itachi and Mikoto regarded the hot headed Sasuke who had not moved from his spot. Gripping the water bottle tightly, his sharingan receded back to black.

"I'm going to kill her," he mumbled, extracting a laugh from Mikoto.

The Uchiha matriarch shook her head, hiding a smile behind her hand. The girl was exactly like her shishou, maybe even worse.

"You should probably apologize," she said, looking at her son. Sasuke scoffed at her response, sitting down to glare at the scrolls.

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "I'm serious Sasuke, she has control over your suspension and probably the rest of your career."

The dark haired boy glanced at his mother and then to his older brother who had a smirk on his face, the message clearly understood...

 _Foolish little brother._

* * *

 **I don't know if I will continue with this or not. It was just a story that kind of popped up.**

 **Lemme know what you think.**

 **QUICK QUESTION**  
 **How's summer going?**


	2. Chapter 2

**O** Koishii **O**

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 _Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,_

 _Before we too into the Dust descend;_

 _Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,_

 _Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and-sans End!_

-Omar Khayyam (translation: _Edward FitzGerald_ _)_

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 **O** Chapter 1 **O**

The anbu cafeteria was decorated with bright florescent lights, but the off-white walls always gave the room a dirty look. Only the bare necessities were served there: a cheap, powdery brand of green tea and sometimes instant ramen.

Most of the shinobi who spent their time at the cafeteria kept to themselves, it wasn't known as a social place, but in fact as a place to work since the large tables provided ample space and a change of scenery.

The banal room was one of Sakura's favorite places because it was usually quite and calm, giving her enough serenity to focus.

Currently, she had a myriad of scrolls sprawled out on one of the corner tables. They were random documents, ranging from her travels with her shishou to medical scrolls.

She was arranging them, throwing away the old and useless ones, and storing the ones that would come in handy for her future in the Strategy and Intelligence Department.

"Well, look who it is," a voice suddenly said from her side.

"Karuhi," Sakura smiled, not bothering to let go of the document in her hand.

A brown haired woman leaned casually against the wall, observing her friend work diligently. She was tall with a strong jaw-line, and piercing purple eyes that were constantly shifting. She wasn't wearing an anbu uniform, but her outfit was still a mix of dark and neutral tones with a pop of color coming from her painted nails.

Karuhi belonged to the Senior Anbu Council of the Surveillance Division, specifically Home and Defense Management. Her job was to make sure nothing suspicious was occurring in Konoha, and that nothing suspicious entered Konoha.

Sighing at the lack of response from the pinkette, she walked over to sit across from Sakura. She eyed the scrolls curiously, reaching over to pick one from the table, only to be swatted away.

"Confidential," Sakura said, retrieving her hand when she knew for sure the brunette wouldn't reach for the scroll again.

Karuhi rolled her eyes, "Right, the gambling debt of the Hokage is _very_ confidential."

Sakura sighed and looked up, raising an eyebrow at the girl across from her.

"You weren't at Miki's party," Karuhi said, inspecting her nails.

The apprentice shrugged, stacking the papers in order to make some sense of the mess around her. She liked to think of herself as more organized than her Shishou, but the current state of the table was contradicting her own belief.

Sakura reached over to take a sip of her tea, which had been hiding under an especially large document.

"Ita," she mumbled, frowning at the flimsy paper cup that burnt her hand, it was probably as cheap as the beverage it held.

The girl in front of her growled, prompting Sakura to finally stop ignoring the question.

"Fine," the pinkette sighed again, "I know I didn't show up, it's just that I was so tired from all the anbu exams."

Karuhi huffed and crossed her arms, "The whole point of the party was to celebrate the end of them, it was supposed to be relaxing."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, but my definition of relaxation isn't drinking sake and passing out."

The brown haired woman raised her hands, "Fine, I concede. But you know how Miki is, she was really hurt when you didn't show up. She was complaining about it the whole day yesterday, do you know how annoying it was?" she asked with a groan.

Sakura bit her lip, "How about I apologize to your girlfriend? Would that make things better?"

Karuhi looked up and let out a sigh of relief, "Yes, please," her hands came up to rub at her temples, "Kami, I would love to get a good night of sleep for once."

The pink haired girl couldn't help but feel bad for her friend, after all she had bailed despite committing to the party. Sakura wasn't much of social animal, preferring a good book over a crazy night out, but her friends always tried to drag her off to different places.

She took a sip of her tea and cringed, suddenly realizing exactly why no one seemed to buy it. It tasted terrible but it was the best she could probably afford with the terrible pay she got from anbu.

"I administered the Male Combat Exam," Karuhi suddenly said, "And Uchiha Itachi's shirt may have 'accidentally'" she said, drawing quotation marks, "burnt off."

"What?" Sakura said coughing, a fist coming in front of her mouth.

"Yup," Karuhi nodded, "I made sure the fire pits went off at the moment he crossed it, and boy was I pleased."

Sakura gave her a questioning look, causing the brown haired girl to grin, "What? Just because I swing the other way, doesn't mean I can't appreciate fine specimen."

The pinkette laughed, crumpling up the rejected the documents she had left and throwing them in the waste basket she had pulled over. Taking a few paperclips from her pocket, she took the final sections of divided papers and stuck them together, stacking them in one neat pile.

She jolted slightly when she felt Karuhi kick her harshly from underneath, and looked up to finally realize who had appeared beside the two girls.

"Congratulations Haruno."

Sakura held her breathe as she met the silver eyes of the infamous Neji Hyuuga. He blinked at her for a moment, before proceeding to turn and walk out of the cafeteria, ignoring the gaping girls behind him.

"Well aren't you famous," Karuhi said with a smirk, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

The pinkette sighed and turned away to hide the blush dusting her cheeks, "I think he was the fifth person to congratulate me today. It's getting a bit embarrassing."

Karuhi laughed, and patted the girls hand, "You should be happy. With all the attention you're getting, clans will start sending you marriage offers; now you can go write to your mother and tell her to stop worrying."

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled, "I kind of miss her you know, despite how annoying she is."

The brunette squeezed her hand comfortingly, "I know how it feels, but, anyway," Karuhi said, bringing her hand back to brush a lock of stray hair, "When do you start working with Nara."

"I've moved my stuff into the office already. The whole division is so empty, you would think there would be more people there," Sakura admitted.

The brown haired girl looked away, before turning to look at her friend from the corner, "About that..."

The apprentice's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Well, the division was actually run by another anbu named Akiyama Kazauo. He and a bunch of older anbu were a part of Intelligence, but when your shishou came in power she personally replaced him with Nara and forced the other anbu to retire," she said, biting her lip.

"And?" Sakura probed, noticing the slight crease in Karuhi's brow.

The brunette hesitated, "He didn't retire like the others, and doesn't exactly like the Hokage" she paused, "Just be careful Sak, even though he isn't head of Intelligence, he's been here for a long time and is still pretty influential among the older anbu members."

Sakura repressed a groan, this Akiyama character would probably be even more pissed when he finds out that the Hokage's own apprentice would be joining the Division he was removed from. She would need to learn more about him in order to prepare herself from some possible trouble in the future.

 _Wonderful_ she sighed, picking up her neat stack of papers and standing up.

Karuhi looked up from her spot and smiled, "Hey, don't worry about it okay? You'll be just fine."

Sakura shrugged, as long as she remained respectful and obeyed orders from her superiors in anbu she would be fine.

"I should probably go now, I'll see you around Karuhi," she said with a wave.

The pinkette made her way towards the entrance of the cafeteria, passing various anbu who were either ignoring her or whispering about her. Just as she was about to leave, her friend's voice stopped her.

"Oi, Sakura!" Karuhi shouted, causing said girl to turn, "I forgot to tell you, congratulations!"

* * *

"Congratulations!" Mikoto said clapping her hands, as she she placed the final dish on the table.

Sasuke looked up at his mother and gave her a small smile, "Arigato."

He glanced at his brother who was looking at him as well, giving the younger brother a nod of approval. Sasuke's father, on the other hand, stared impassively ahead with no emotion found.

Mikoto repressed a sigh at her husband's behavior. In fact, it was unusual for Fugaku to even join them for dinner, it had taken a lot of convincing from her part to get the busy man to drop his work and have some family time.

The woman sat down and with the usual 'itadakimasu' the Uchiha family began to eat. Mikoto had cooked all their favorite dishes today, and made sure to add extra tomatoes for the youngest son.

"I'm so happy you've become anbu captain," Mikoto said with a sigh and teary eyes, "Oh, my boys are growing up."

Sasuke repressed a groan at the overly sentimental speech his mother had probably prepared.

"Oh, and Itachi, I'm proud of you too of course," she said with a watery smile.

The heir nodded, sharing a knowing glance with his younger brother, who seemed to fear the same monologue that was coming up.

Surprisingly, however, it was Fugaku who prevented the onslaught of tears, "How did Naruto do, Sasuke?" he asked.

The dark haired boy briefly made eye contact with his father before returning to stare at his food.

"How unfortunate," Fugaku tsked, "He's a disappointment to his father's legacy,"

Sasuke bit his lip and continued eating despite the stares he was receiving from his mother and brother. Even though Naruto hadn't passed the exams to became captain, Sasuke knew that his blonde friend was an incredible fighter, fiercely loyal, and would probably become the best Hokage ever known.

Naruto was just choosing his own path, it would take time, but he knew Konoha's knucklehead would prove everyone wrong. _Including my father,_ he thought bitterly.

"I heard something interesting," Fugaku continued, not bothering to meet the inquisitive stares of family, "Apparently the Hokage's apprentice, what's her name?"

"Haruno Sakura," Mikoto chimed in, curious as to what her husband had to say.

"Hn," he said in agreement, "She received the highest scores in the kunoichi exams, and," he paused, his eyes finally lifting to meet Itachi's similar black orbs, "She ranked first in the strategical exams."

Despite the obvious tension, the Uchiha heir refused to back down from his father's gaze, "Hai," he said clearly and loudly.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes, "She did better than you."

"Hai," Itachi repeated.

The clan head's nostrils flared, "A Senju as Hokage was bad enough, but now she sent her damn apprentice to take over anbu," he seethed, a hand slamming on the table, "What's happened to the Uchiha name?!"

"No one else seems to be bothered by this, the rest of the clan is ignorant, moving forward with out even a peep, " he spoke with acid laced words, "Konoha can't trust us because they are afraid we are too powerful, so now they're just shunning us, placing restrictions on the Uchiha clan!"

"Fugaku!" Mikoto exclaimed, a hand reaching over to cover her husband's fist, "Let's talk about this later, ne? We're having such a nice family dinner right now."

His hand retreated back under the table, but he continued to glare at his older son, "I'm disappointed Itachi."

Mikoto felt her breathe hitch when her older son suddenly placed his chopsticks calmly beside his dish.

"I won't stand this," Itachi spoke before standing from his seat, he bowed deeply, "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving."

His mother stood up, chair screeching, "Itachi! But what's wrong?" she tried, suddenly turning towards her younger son, who stood up as well.

He bowed, "Gomen."

"Sasuke," Mikoto whispered, her hand grasping the back of the chair.

Itachi turned away, the Uchiha crest sharply contrasting with the black of his outfit, "This has been going on too long, Otou-san. Either you learn to let go of things that happened years ago, or you will lose two sons," his fist clenched and his back tensed, "I will not be part of any war you start."

The woman watched as both her sons left the room one after the other, her dark orbs turning towards her husband.

With pursed lips, she let her eyes bleed red, "This is your fault Fugaku."

She left the kitchen, disappearing into the shadows of the dark house.

* * *

 **Important! This Uchiha conflict won't last very long. It's almost like a side story happening just within the head family. It's mostly only Fugaku who's having problems with the Hokage, no one else in the Uchiha clan. I just wanted to evolve Fugaku's character within this story itself. You'll see.**

 **Anyway,** THANK YOU SO MUCH **, I've received so much love from you guys. I will be turning this into a full blown story, and will be devoting my time to this because I feel it has potential as well.**

 **This was a short chapter because I wanted to set things up a bit more, but future chapters will be longer.**

 **QUICK QUESTION**

Whats your favorite color?


	3. Chapter 3

**O** Koishii **O**

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 _Reading books where everyone died,_

 _none became anymore wise._

 _The one who reads the word of Love,_

 _only becomes wise._

 _-Kabira_

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 **O** Chapter Two **O**

The anbu lounge was a special room in the headquarters that was reserved for only high-ranking anbu.

It was still dark and dingy like the rest of the headquarters, but the seats were slightly more comfortable and the room wasn't sweltering hot in summer or bone-chillingly cold in winter. It was a decent size, long and rectangular in shape with tables and chairs at the immediate entrance and a snack bar at the end.

People swarmed in and out of the room in a continuous, even cycle, until an especially large group of kunoichi broke the flow.

"Watch this," Naruto said with a wink.

He raised his hands to his chest and quickly made the signs he was so used to,"Sexy Harem no Jutsu!"

With a poof his clothes were replaced with dangerously revealing clouds of smoke that moved around lazily. His new body was chiseled and shining, and his blue eyes were filled with a seductive mystery. Opening his mouth to reveal a sly smile, a sharp glint was felt through out the room at the superficial shine of his teeth.

The illusion, however, was soon broken.

"Hey," he let out as an empty ramen cup hit his head and dispelled the jutsu.

He pouted at the Uchiha who looked on with disapproving eyes. Itachi knew he shouldn't have sat with the blonde; all the stress at home must be affecting his brain.

Naruto let out an exaggerated breath of air and sat back down in his seat, "You're so boring Itachi," he said rolling his eyes, "I was totally going to get those hot girls."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "Of course," he replied and returned to writing his mission report.

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, eyes glistening with a challenge, "I bet you couldn't even _do_ the jutsu."

The dark haired Uchiha looked up suddenly, a dark shadow coming across his face. No one challenged an Uchiha, especially Itachi Uchiha.

The clan heir dropped his scroll and began making the hand signs, "Sexy Harem no Jutsu!"

Naruto's mouth dropped as he looked wide-eyed at Itachi.

"Wha-what?" the blonde said, more to himself, "Nothing happened!"

Itachi leaned back in his seat and released the jutsu, "You see Naruto," an arrogant smirk painting his face, "I'm too sexy for the jutsu."

The future Hokage's face suddenly turned red as he got up and pointed at the Uchiha, but no words came out of his mouth. He sat down again and pressed his forehead to the table, quietly muttering to himself.

Itachi shook his head and was beginning to return to his work, when he noticed a new occupant enter. She moved towards the end of the room and grabbed a paper cup, which she filled with water and a green tea pack. He watched as she released a tired sigh and summoned chakra to her hands to heat up her drink, before making her way back to the entrance.

Her eyes met his.

"Sakura-san," Itachi said as a greeting.

The apprentice smiled and walked towards the Uchiha, "Itachi-san," she nodded and then glanced at the blonde who was still crying silently to himself.

Sakura looked back at Itachi questioningly, but he shrugged and changed the topic, "I see you're taking full advantage of the lounge now."

The girl blushed and smiled nervously, "The tea they have here is a lot better than the one in the cafeteria."

"And the ramen too apparently," he replied with distaste, as he looked at the empty cups surrounding Naruto.

Itachi looked back at her and smiled gently, "Congratulations, you're quite popular now."

"Thank you," she replied, "But I have to say, popularity still has its downsides," she said, nodding towards the group of kunoichi scowling at her.

Sakura took a seat next to Naruto and began sipping on her tea as she mentally sighed.

Ever since she came first in Strategy and Kunoichi rankings, rumors had been flying around that she had cheated and gotten special privileges because she was the Hokage's apprentice. Of course in the hospital that was true, but when it came to anbu, shishou always made sure to treat her equally.

"Jealousy is an odd thing," Itachi suddenly mused, but didn't continue on the thought.

She nodded and sipped her tea silently. The quality of tea in the lounge was far greater than that of the cafeteria; the tea leaves were actually visible and there were a lot more options, not to mention the paper cups were much sturdier.

The fact that it was also free probably made it taste even better on her tight budget.

"I heard you're getting your team today," Itachi said as he worked on his mission report, "You must be excited."

Sakura nodded, "Hai."

Leaning forward she observed his neat handwriting as he quickly wrote the details of the mission. Her own handwriting was neat as well, despite the common stereotype of medics writing in scribbles.

"I've been meaning to say this for a while, Sakura-san,"he said dropping his pen and curling up the scroll, "I would like to apologize on Sasuke's behalf for his behavior."

She turned towards him suddenly with wide eyes, "Itachi-san, there's no need!" she exclaimed raising her hands.

The dark haired Uchiha continued on, "He doesn't show it, but he's actually under a lot of pressure because of..." he hesitated, "certain affairs within the clan and outside."

Sakura bit her lip, "I understand, of course."

"Whether you decide to end his suspension is up to you, I just wanted to let you know that he is not always disrespectful," he said with a solemn expression. His eyes suddenly came up to press his eyes and his face paled.

Sakura leaned forward, "Are you alright Itachi-san? Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Just as she was about to check on him, he dropped his hands and let out a dry laugh.

"I'm alright really," he said sighing, "Writing all these mission reports strain my eyes."

Sakura looked on doubtfully but her attention was shortly diverted, "Oh mission reports!" she exclaimed standing up, finishing off her tea which she threw it in a waste bin near by.

"Gomen, but I have to run some errands for intelligence," Sakura explained, bowing as a farewell.

He nodded in return and watched her back as she hurriedly made her way out of the room. He pressed on his eyes and for a moment let his stoic mask fade, _she almost found out_.

Shaking his head, he returned to his work, only to be disturbed by an awakening Naruto.

"What happened?" he asked groggily with a piece of ramen stuck to his face, "I thought I heard Sakura-chan's voice."

Itachi let out a long sigh.

* * *

"Ayame-san, I've come to pick up the old mission reports," the pink haired anbu said from the entrance of the division.

It was chillier in this side of the headquarters and Sakura had to repress a shiver as she looked at the black haired girl. Ayame visibly rolled her eyes and got up from her seat to go into the storage room of the surveillance department.

"Here," she said dismissively, handing Sakura the cardboard box.

Sakura's lips pursed from the unnecessary attitude that the girl was giving her, but nonetheless accepted the documents with a smile, "Arigato."

Turning back into the hallway, Sakura made her way through the now familiar maze that was the anbu headquarters.

The hallways were filled shadows in each corner, as anbu continually snooped around. Many removed their masks when they were at the headquarters, but some of the more mysterious ones preferred to keep them on.

Sakura was the first type, but the mask was useful whenever she was having a bad day; she unconsciously touched the smooth porcelain of her mask as it bounced with every step she took.

Turning into another hallway, she closed into the Strategy and Intelligence department, the door of which was wide open. She switched on the lights as soon as she entered the room, promptly waking Shikamaru up from his extended nap.

"Last one?" he asked, tilting his head towards the yellowing documents, feigning awareness.

Sakura coughed from the dust cloud that arose when she slammed the box on the table. She switched on another light to help illuminate the dark room and briefly saw Shikamaru wince.

"Yes," she glowered at the side of his head, "Thanks for all your help, your snores were really supportive," she said dryly, coughing again.

Shikamaru would have helped out, but his lazy side talked him into taking a nice long nap on the clean new chairs they had gotten for their division. He sighed and looked around the dingy room and out into the equally dingy hallway.

Anbu was divided into various branches, but the real foundation of it was teams. Teams consisted of a variety of members from many specializations, for example five of Shikamaru's own trained shinobi were scattered throughout.

To regroup, shinobi of specific specializations would meet at least once a month in their respective division to share new information.

There was an exception to this system though, for those who didn't want to be placed on teams. They were highly specialized anbu who tended to do much of the administrating and managing of departments; Shikamaru himself was one these shinobi ever since the Hokage suddenly promoted him to head of Intelligence.

Unlike other divisions, the Strategical and Intelligence department covered a broader section of anbu. His shinobi would need to meet more often than other divisions, in order to report suspicious occurrences to the Hokage.

In fact, the weekly report to Tsunade-sama was supposed to be due today, he lit a cigarette.

"Say, Shika," Sakura said, as she worked, "I was talking to Karuhi some time ago, and she told me something interesting about Intelligence," she looked at him expectantly.

Shikamaru sighed and sat up in his chair, there was still a slight slouch in his posture, but she could tell she had his attention.

"Akiyama Kazauo I'm guessing," he mumbled. Squishing the butt of cigarette, he clasped his hands in front of him and cleared his throat.

"Listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once," he said sternly, muttering a troublesome at the thought of all the words he would have to speak.

"Sarutobi was a good Hokage, but he was old and wasn't always aware of what was happening in Konoha. Anbu for example," he said, motioning around him, "had slipped out of his control and into a board of influential members, one of them being Akiyama Kazauo."

Sakura bit her lip and nodded, it made sense now. When shishou had become Hokage, she kept complaining about how much power the Hokage's position had lost and how much work she would need to do in order to recover it.

"Akiyama was head of the Intelligence division," Shikamaru continued, "The biggest and most powerful division when the new Hokage came to power. Anbu loyal to the Hokage reported his abuse of power to her immediately, and she decided it was time for his reign to end. He was stripped of his position, but was allowed to join the anbu board."

A foolish move on Tsuande-sama's part, but he supposed that if she had completely removed him from anbu or gave him some low level job, the members loyal to Akiyama would protest.

Sakura tilted her head, "What's going to happen to us?"

He shrugged and took out another cigarette, "I'm in the clear because Akiyama respects my father and probably purely blames his replacement on the Hokage. You, on the other hand," he said pointing at her with his death stick, "need to watch your back."

Sakura groaned and placed her head on the wooden desk, ignoring the scratchiness of its splintered wood.

"This is horrible," her muffled voice complained, "I've got at least half of anbu against me, and I didn't even do anything!"

"I wouldn't worry about the others, you barely see some of these people anyway," he spoke as he lit his cigarette, "Just make sure your team likes you. No. Actually, make sure your captain likes you."

Anytime now a messenger would come and summon her to the Hokage's office to be assigned her new anbu team. She would probably get a newly promoted captain, since there were many of them from the recent exams.

Through her new team she hoped to at least make more connections in Konoha. So far she had only met Chouji through Shikamaru; he was almost as laid back as the Nara and had invited her to drop by for dinner one day. Apparently, the Akimichi clan were amazing cooks.

Other than Karuhi and her girlfriend, most of the kunoichi in anbu hated her and she hadn't met anyone outside of anbu yet. Her busy schedule didn't help with her need to socialize either.

"Shika, can you introduce me to that friend of yours, Ino?" she asked with a hopeful look.

He let out a puff of smoke that disappeared in white wisps, "I suppose I could, but you two are going to be so troublesome together," he groaned at the thought.

His old genin teammate and Sakura were both loud, stubborn, and bossy. Shikamaru could almost guarantee that the two would get along in some sort of twisted manner as soon as they met.

"Thanks!" she grinned at him, "I'll repay you by taking you out to lunch."

He arched an eyebrow at her and snuffed out the butt of his cigarette, "Don't bother," he mumbled, "You probably couldn't afford it."

Pink tinted her cheeks as she scowled, "Well, it's not my fault that the apartments here are so expensive."

Shikamaru couldn't help but nod in agreement, "You'll start earning soon enough."

Just as he finished his words a small chakra entered the room to sit comfortably on Sakura's collarbone, leaving behind a cool sensation.

"Katsuyu-san!" Sakura exclaimed, her heart rate was increasing.

Moving her tentacles in a way that mimicked a wave, the snail greeted her, "Sakura-san, Tsundade-sama is requesting your presence.

The apprentice looked up to give Shikamaru a nervous smile, before turning towards the summon, "Arigato, I'll be there in a moment."

* * *

The weather was humid and hot even as the sun dipped into the ground and released a warm color pallet into the sky. People were packing away their carts for the day and were making room for the nocturnal restaurants and clubs to open.

Sakura ambled languidly up the stairs, not bothering to use any chakra to get to the room quickly. She unwrapped and wrapped the bandages around her arms, more out of giddy excitement than the dread she had previously felt.

She was finally getting what she had always wanted, a team, a family that would last until she died fighting beside them. Despite the occasional hiccups here and there, her life was moving forward, and this would be a big step.

Looking up she noticed a dark haired figure clad in blue and black standing outside the Hokage's room, probably returning from a mission.

"Sasuke-san," she called out, walking a bit faster to catch up with him.

He briefly glanced at her coming his way, but didn't make a sound.

"Sasuke-san," she repeated, "I'm sorry about suspending you, Itachi-san told me about all the pressure you're under, so if you can come in for a physical I can clear you for service," she said with a bright smile.

He looked at her blankly before an arrogant and demeaning smirk erupted on his face. Almost immediately Sakura's mood darkened and she looked at him with suspicious, narrow eyes.

"There's no need Haruno. You see," he said, taking out a slip of paper from his pocket, "I got clearance from the anbu board."

Sakura blinked suddenly, hands snatching the document from his, "What? That's impossible! They're not allowed to do this!"

Sasuke looked down at her with sharp eyes, "They deemed your suspension to be an abuse of power, in fact," he said smirk widening, "I actually helped you, they were planning to revoke your ranking."

Her jaw dropped for a moment, and then her eyes lit up with a forest fire, "The anbu board was re-created in order to make sure that the organization ran smoothly. They do not have the authority to clear you of your suspension or remove my rank," she spoke in a calm voice, crumpling the paper in her hands.

"I'm reporting this to the Hokage," she said turning towards the door, only for her wrist to be caught by Sasuke.

He glared at her, "Shut up, what would you know about the anbu system anyway? Your Hokage just came back to Konoha, while my family has always been here and has been loyal to the village."

Sakura let out a bitter laugh, "Really? Loyal, Sasuke, have they really?" She asked as she forcefully pulled her arm away from his grip.

Sasuke's aura darkened and she could nearly touch his chakra as it spiked and sent a jolt of electricity through out the hallway. His sharingan span dangerously, as his muscles tensed and hand unconsciously moved to grip at his katana.

Sakura smirked at his reaction, kunai slipping out from their hidden holsters and into her hands, "Struck a nerve did I?"

In a flash he moved, katana glinting painfully as it attempted to slice at her; he was fast, but Sakura was just as fast, blocking each advancement towards her. As a medic-nin she was taught to analyze her opponent's moves so in case she was attacked she could dodge and preserve her chakra for healing.

This skill was also useful at a time of combat like this; she quickly picked up the familiar slashes of his katana and searched for an opening. She felt the blade graze her skin at a slip of her concentration and draw blood.

Narrowing her eyes, she shook her head, and re-gathered her thoughts.

 _Now._

The large oak doors broke open and splintered as Sasuke's body crashed through and tumbled ungracefully on the ground. She smirked in triumph from her position on top of the rumble.

"Arrogant asshole," she murmured, flexing her fingers.

Suddenly, she stilled at the other chakra signatures present in the room. She raised her eyes and met the disapproving gaze of Akiyama Kazauo.

"Is this any way to treat your Taichou?!"

* * *

 **You were expecting that though, weren't you? Now the real fun will begin.**

 **Anyway I am so sorry about the confusion that happened. You see I posted a chapter of this fic, but absolutely hated it so I deleted it soon afterwards. I didn't think anyone would notice since fanfic takes at least 30 minutes to update, but I guess people did.**

 **So sorry, this is the real chapter 3, and i promise this mess up won't happen again.**

 **As always, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH. i've read and re-read all your reviews and I really appreciate the support!**

 _ **QUICK QUESTION**_

 _Which character (in any anime) do you think would make a good friend?_


	4. Chapter 4

**O** Koishii **O**

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 _The undiscovered country from whose bourn_

 _No traveler returns, puzzles the will_

 _And makes us rather bear those ills we have_

 _Than fly to others that we know not of..._

 _Thus conscience does make cowards of us all..._

 _\- Shakespeare_

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 **O** Chapter Three **O**

Sakura stood rigidly in front of the wooden desk; her fingers twitched ever so slightly every time she heard the distant shouting of her shishou from the other room.

Beside her a slouching Uchiha Sasuke stood with his usual indifferent expression, but she noticed the small winces he would also make at the audible argument coming from next door.

Her green eyes glanced at him from the side, his sharp jaw line was tense from clenching his teeth and veins popped out from the fierce way he pressed his hands over his cracked ribs.

She bit her lip as a pang of guilt overcame her but slowly faded away with a deranged satisfaction. The arrogant bastard deserved it. She didn't mean to punch him so hard, but in times of anger her control just slipped.

It was definitely a bad habit and something that she needed to stop doing, but Sakura often found that her strong emotions are what pull her through tough battles.

A sniffle and shuffle on her right brought her attention to the unusually quite blonde standing next to her.

She didn't know Naruto all that well, but the very few times she had met him he seemed jubilant to the point of annoying. He also constantly asked her out on dates and was always pestering her with useless questions. But something about Naruto made him different, unique. Sakura just didn't know what it was.

His blue eyes met hers for a moment, and she could see the grin that it contained without looking at his mouth. Sakura gave him an uneasy smile in return and then turned her gaze towards the unfamiliar boy that was to the right of Naruto.

He had deathly pale skin and dark inky hair that was short and slightly ruffled. He was dressed in full anbu gear and was staring stoically up ahead. He must have caught her looking, however, because his blank eyes turned towards her for a moment before returning to its original position.

"I don't accept this team!" yelled an enraged voice.

She felt Sasuke stiffen beside her causing her curiosity to peak, especially when she heard a ruffle of clothing indicating that the frustrated trio had returned.

The man who was yelling had dark hair and a permanent frown on his face, so much so that wrinkles had begun to appear around his mouth. He had sharp dark eyes that landed on Sasuke as soon as he entered, but soon returned back onto the Hokage.

Sakura bit her lip and faced forward. He was Uchiha Fugaku a contentious man who had a deeply embedded hatred for all things Senju, and, she thought, glancing at the boy next to her, he was Sasuke's father.

"Enough!" she heard her shishou roar. The Hokage stomped towards her desk and sat down with a glare.

Caramel eyes looked at Sakura pointedly, almost blaming her for the situation.

"Fugaku-san, I apologize for the umpteenth time, but the teams have been decided and can no longer be changed," she then turned towards the other man in the room, "Akiyama-san, thank you for all your suggestions," she said with a clenched jaw, "But my decision is final."

Finally, Sakura had the opportunity to take a good look at the infamous Akiyama who she had been hearing about for the past week or so.

He was old, older than Fugaku, but his face contained an odd strength and defiance that was mixed in with the experience of his age. His jaw was square and his thin lips looked as though they were carved in a permanent cocky smile.

His hair was dark brown, but marred with gray streaks, and while there was a slight slouch in his back, he still stood like a regal man with his chin high. Akiyama only wore the best clothes, made from the finest silk, and gave off an aura of suffocating pride.

"Of course Hokage-sama," he said bowing with his ever present smile, "Your decisions thus far have been for the best of Konoha," he said, making his double meaning quite clear.

"I'm sure," he continued, glancing at the four young shinobi, "that this new anbu team will serve our village to the fullest of their capabilities."

He bowed once again and walked out the office, but not before giving Sakura an unnerving smile that nearly caused her to shiver.

Tsuande pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fugaku, is there anything else I can do for you?"

The older Uchiha snapped his eyes towards Sasuke who refused to look at his father.

Sakura heard the Uchiha head sigh, and with a soft scuffle and a set of eyes glowering at her shishou or maybe at her, he left the room.

The Hokage then turned towards the four of them, a frown embedded on her face as she examined the team she had put together. She placed her folded hands in front of her and sighed.

"Sakura," she said looking at her sternly, "From now on you will respect your Taichou, will listen to his orders, and will never again be insolent towards him."

The apprentice bowed deeply, "Hai."

"And Sasuke," she turned towards him with a dour expression, "You are an anbu captain, your egregious behavior was unacceptable, don't force me to revoke your ranking."'

He bowed, clutching his ribs, "Hai."

The Hokage let out another sigh, and rubbed her temples before composing herself once again.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and," she said, pausing as she read the paper, "Sai, you are all to placed on anbu Team 7 with Uchiha Sasuke as your captain."

Tsunade, dropped the paper and looked at Sasuke, "Because you were newly promoted, Team 7 will have a temporary supervisor. He will come on difficult missions, and for training sessions, but I haven't decided who it is yet," she explained, leaning back in her seat.

"Sign your contract, and Sakura," she nodded towards her, "stay afterwards."

The four of them went forward to sign the scroll that would bind them together and make Team 7 official. They would work together for most of the missions they did, but teams were often flexible and members joined and left depending on the specialization needed for a particular mission.

Sakura examined the inky signatures of her teammates on the scroll, before hesitantly scribbling out her own name as well.

When the apprentice looked up, she caught her shishou reaching underneath her desk and pulling out a flask of sake and two porcelain cups.

It was an expensive kind that was only made in the Mist and was known for its horribly bitter taste and high percentage of alcohol. Sakura absolutely hated it, but it was the Hokage's favorite brand.

"Sit," she said, motioning Sakura to drag an empty chair.

The pink haired girl did as she was told, and soon found herself holding a cup of sake that the Hokage had gracefully poured.

"Shishou," she hesitated, staring at her distorted reflection in the full sake cup, "Gomen, I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble."

The Hokage sighed and downed her drink in one gulp, before drinking directly from the flask.

"Its not your fault," she admitted, placing the alcohol down with a clink, "They've grouped together now, trying to find fault with everything I do. The previous Hokage let too much power slip from his control, but that's why everyone liked him."

Sakura nodded, biting her lip. They were reaching a dangerous point here, if powerful men in Konoha didn't want her shishou in power it could cause a terrible rift and maybe even civil war.

"Sakura," Tsuande said suddenly, leaning forward in her chair, "Did you notice the boy on your team, Sai, the one with no family name."

She nodded as a reply, eyebrows scrunching. He seemed unusual from the start, but she didn't think much of it.

"He's from an organization called Root, made by one of my council members, Danzo, who is also a close friend of Akiyama. I want you to keep an eye on him."

"Root? Danzo?" Sakura inquired, "That's new, you told me about the problems with the Uchiha clan, but I haven't heard of this."

Her shishou sighed, "Neither have I, until now that is. I'm not worried about the Uchiha clan anymore, Fugaku is being a pest, but his family will control him and I have a plan to make him happy; however, this new power is becoming a problem."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm not going to bother you with the details for now, but I just want you to keep an eye on him. Danzo wants to place more members from Root into anbu, but I was able to limit it to only Sai. Just watch him and make sure he isn't doing anything suspicious."

Sakura nodded her head slowly. She had been placed on this team because with the current situation in Konoha there were very few people Tsuande could actually trust. She was one of those special shinobi and she vowed to protect her shishou at all costs.

"Are you going to drink that?" Tsunade suddenly asked, caramel eyes stalking the full sake cup in Sakura's hand.

The apprentice sighed, and handed the older lady her drink.

"Shishou," she spoke, hands curling in her lap, "Were there any updates about the other problem. In..." Sakura hesitated looking around, "Well, you know."

Tsunade looked up and slowly nodded, "But that's not our concern at the moment. Right now, we need to focus on the internal issues in Konoha," she explained, turning in her chair.

"You should probably go now Sakura," the Hokage said, still looking out the window at her village, "Your Taichou will want to have a word with his new team."

Sakura nodded and bowed, "Hai!"

Sure enough, once she exited the Hokage's office, Sakura noticed the group waiting for her in the hallway. While Sai and Sasuke looked indifferent to the situation, Naruto seemed to be bouncing off the walls.

"Sakura-chan!" he waved, as she approached, "We're on the same team!" he grinned at her, rubbing the back of his neck.

She nodded slowly and smiled back at him, before turning to look at Sasuke who was eyeing her from his position.

"Well," he said, dark eyes shifting to look at the other members of his team, his eyes narrowed on his look-alike, "Let's introduce ourselves."

Sakura's eyebrows nearly rose from surprise, who knew Sasuke had some civility.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, you must call me Taichou and you will respect me at all times," he said, the last part obviously directed towards Sakura even though his eyes were elsewhere.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde nearly yelled next, "and I'm going to become the Hokage," he said pointing a thumb at himself.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she said, guessing it was her turn to speak next, "And- I guess that's it," she ended with a shrug.

All eyes turned towards the new character in this picture who was spiking their curiosity. He must have realized that it was his turn to speak because he looked up and gave them the oddest smile.

"Hello I am Sai," he spoke with an even tone, "It's nice to meet you Ugly, Dick-less, and Traitor," he said with a nod.

It took a moment for them to register his words, however Naruto was the first to recover and attack.

"Hey! What the hell is your problem?!" the blonde said, slamming the still smiling boy into the wall.

Naruto's hands clenched Sai's collar, his blue eyes screamed anger while his ears were tinged slightly red.

Sai's eyes scrunched with his fake happiness, "Well, men do not wear orange, therefore you are dick-less," he then pointed towards Sakura, "Your forehead is flawed because of that diamond mark, therefore you are Ugly," and, he concluded with Sasuke, "Your father dislikes the Hokage and wishes for her to be overthrown, therefore you are a traitor."

Somewhere during his explanation, Naruto had let go of the boy and has walked away as though Sai's strangeness would infect him by touch.

"What is wrong with you?" Naruto said with wide eyes, causing Sakura to mentally agree.

She suddenly turned towards Sasuke to see how he had taken the insult, but the Uchiha seemed to be unmoved.

"You won't call me that again," the captain said gaining the Naruto and Sai's attention, "Especially while we are out on a mission."

Sai bowed, "Of course, _taichou_ ," he said, emphasizing the title.

Clearing his throat, the Uchiha turned towards the rest of the group and spoke, "Tomorrow 8am, training ground 3; I want to asses your skills."

He dismissed them and disappeared leaving Sai, Naruto, and Sakura alone. There was a strange silence for a few moments, as they thought about their new team and their sullen captain, before the Root member spoke up.

"Good bye Ugly, Dick-less," Sai said with a nod and a smile.

He poofed away just as Naruto's fist was about to meet his face.

* * *

Itachi's smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles and marks that marred the canvas colored scroll. His eyes scanned the neat handwriting once again, before rolling it up into its original form.

He rubbed the seal that originally stuck the two ends of the piece of paper; it had smooth curves that moved in no particular order, and was the color of deep red with a white outline.

It looked like a cloud.

With the sound of his brother entering the house, however, Itachi quickly hid the item in one of his drawers and masked it with a strong concealing jutsu. His chakra then searched out Sasuke's, feeling the obvious agitation his aura contained.

Repressing a chuckle, the pale boy slid open the screen door of his room and quietly made his way through the courtyard in order to reach their moderately sized kitchen. It had started to become dark sooner, as winter slowly crept on Konoha; soon the flowers would begin to shrivel and the nights would be chillier.

Opening the screen door, the heir was met with his younger brother standing by the stove, his back facing Itachi's but his jerky movements gave away his obvious annoyance at something.

"Tea?" Sasuke asked, without turning to see Itachi enter the room.

"Hai," the older brother replied, before sliding into one of the chairs. He idly picked up the scroll on the table and examined its contents.

"Well, this is interesting," Itachi commented, reading Sasuke's copy of the contract. It had the names of all of team seven's members, with a small passage explaining the role and duty of anbu teams.

Itachi briefly heard Sasuke grunt as a reply, but the sound was over taken by the clattering of cutlery.

"You know Sasuke," Itachi said, snapping the team summary close, "I wanted Haruno to be on my team," he admitted, nodding a thanks when Sasuke placed a cup of tea in front of him.

The younger Uchiha snorted and sat down himself.

Itachi continued, "She's the only medic-nin in anbu, and has traveled with the Hokage all her life so she knows almost all the villages and their geographies," he paused to take a sip, "And most importantly, she has connections."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat, "She irritates me," he said, not looking at Itachi directly.

"Well," the older brother said, sighing, "It's time you grew up Sasuke. "

The tone of his voice made Sasuke look at his brother and finally notice the weariness in his eyes. The topic was changing now, going into dangerous waters, Itachi must have heard something about Sakura and his fight in the hallway.

"Our clan affairs need to remain private," Itachi said with a frown, "Father has been doing the opposite lately, but it's our job to fix that. What you did today was unacceptable, both as a captain and Uchiha, and most importantly as a shinobi."

"I don't want to hear about anything like this again," Itachi spoke with a glint in his eye.

Sasuke's head bowed slightly. There would always be that one side of him that would desperately seek his father 'sand brother's approval, as much as he hated it. And, currently, that inner child who always admired his older brother felt hurt and betrayed.

"Gomen," he mumbled looking at the wall.

"This conflict will subside soon, however," Itachi nodded accepting the apology, "The Hokage called me in today, saying that she's decided to create a new group of advisers which would be made up of clan heads. Father seemed please, for now."

This was new, Sasuke thought, his brow scrunching slightly at the thought. Eventually, it would come down to how much power the Hokage decided to give these heads, and how long they will be sated with their new position.

Sasuke partially understood his Father's irritation towards the new power in Konoha; the Uchiha clan had been repressed and controlled in order to prevent any coups. It must have bothered his father that as clan head, he couldn't do anything to help his own family.

But, his father's thinking was backward and somewhat stuck in the past. His mother had already moved on, and the differences in his parent's opinions was causing a rift between Mikoto and Fugaku.

He repressed closing his eyes from all the stress. Not only does he have to deal with family problems, his new team was completely deranged. Sakura was an annoying brat, Naruto was Naruto, and, his eyes narrowed, Sai was suspicious.

Sasuke suddenly jolted at the sound of their mother entering the kitchen. She was carrying two bags of groceries which were promptly stolen from Itachi and Sasuke who helped her carry it to the counter.

"Oh, what gentlemen I have raised," Mikoto laughed, as Sasuke and Itachi put away the items for her.

Mikoto smoothed out her skirt and moved away to let her sons take over the work. She wanted them to learn how to take care of their own home if they ever decided to move out, after all she wouldn't be with them forever.

Sighing the elegant lady sat down and pushed her hair back with a pale hand.

"Sasuke," she called out, as she watched him put away the last vegetable into the fridge, "I heard you got your team today."

The younger son turned slightly to see a cunning look in his mother's eyes that made him wince. His Okaa-san always had ways of finding out the tiniest details, which was probably why she was the best scouting kunoichi back in her day.

"Why don't you invite them over for dinner tomorrow?" she suggested, giving him an all too sweet smile.

His response was automatic, "No."

Mikoto pouted, "Why not? Itachi brings his team over all the time."

"That's because Hana has been Itachi's friend since the academy and Shisui practically lives in our house," he frowned and looked away, clenching his jaw in defiance.

"Sasuke," she said sternly forcing him to look back at her.

The boy tensed for a moment or two, as Itachi and Mikoto looked on knowingly. They both knew the younger Uchiha tried to act indifferent and cold, but he was just like his father, soft at the core and completely obedient when it came to Mikoto.

"Fine," he grumbled, leaving the kitchen quickly.

Mikoto grinned and looked at Itachi, "This will be fun."

* * *

 **Hey guys! I created a tumblr account so ya'll can get sneak peeks of the next chapters! If you want I can start posting my chapter there too! Let me know what is more convenient for you :)**

 **Here is the link, it's also on my account page thingy.**

blog/l0singc0nciousness

 **Once again Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Your support means the world to me! If you ever have any questions or suggestions feel free to pm me or leave a review or whatever. I would appreciate your input :))**

 **QUICK QUESTION**

 **For this fic should Itachi be single or taken?**


	5. Chapter 5

**O** Koishii **O**

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 _Love is anterior to life,_

 _Posterior to death,_

 _Initial of creation, and_

 _The exponent of breath._

 _\- Emily Dickinson_

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 **O** Chapter Four **O**

"Not good enough," he let out lightly against her skin, the warm breathe hit the nape of her neck and rolled down her back.

She glowered and elbowed him in the middle of his chest, causing him to let out a hollow gasp as he reflexively moved backwards, freeing one of her legs. With a surge of energy she kneed his stomach and pushed him off, relishing the feeling of finally being freed.

"Haruno, Hyuga, are you done?" came Sasuke's voice from across the field.

"Hai, _Taichou_ ," she replied bitingly from her prostate position on the ground.

She could practically feel his scowl even from that distance, but she was honestly too exhausted to care.

Beside her the partially defeated Neji let out a loud sigh and picked himself up from the ground. His hair was tousled from their grappling, and his usually perfect clothes were stained with dirt and grass.

He held a bandaged hand out to her, which Sakura gladly took.

"Not bad, Hyuga it must have been hard not poking me," she teased, alluding the clan's traditional style of damaging chakra points.

He did his own equivalent of rolling his eyes, "It must have been hard not completely destroying the training field for once."

Sakura blushed slightly, looking up to make eye contact with a frowning Sasuke.

True to their word, Team 7 had met up at their new designated training grounds to show off their skills to their Taichou, but within only thirty minutes of Sakura sparing with Naruto, the two had completely destroyed the training ground.

Sakura, quite literally, ripped out chunks of the earth and flung them at the million replicas of Naruto that were dotted around the field. Sasuke was equally impressed as he was horrified, and had to jump in to stop the two before they completely altered the geography of Konoha.

Thus they were forced to train on Team 4's training ground, while being supervised by Neji, and Sakura was banned from using her chakra enhanced strength.

She scoffed and pushed back her sweaty pink bangs from her forehead, briefly making her seal visible before it was soon partially obscured by the curtain of hair. Sakura squinted around the training field looking for her teammates.

She found the blonde dozing by the tree, his head bent in a position that would leave him with a strained muscle when he woke up. He looked roughed up after training with Sasuke, the two were equally matched but from the looks of it the Uchiha got the upper-hand this time.

Sai, on the other hand, was sitting slightly isolated from the rest, working on something quite mysteriously. Sakura's curiosity spiked, remembering what Tsunade had said about watching him for suspicious behavior, she made her way to the pale boy and sat down with a huff.

Green eyes looked curiously at what he was doing; her jaw dropped when she finally realized what it was.

"Sai! Kami! This is amazing," she said leaning over the boys arm to look at his work.

He was quickly sketching out the match between Sasuke and Naruto, their bodies were fluid and looked as though they would come right off the page.

"Thank you, Ugly," he replied with his unnerving smile that caused Sakura some unease.

She looked at him and refrained from punching his head off, "You know, Sai, you shouldn't call people names like that," she said, through partially clenched teeth.

He turned towards her with blank, black eyes, almost as if asking for an explanation. Sakura's brow furrowed slightly as she examined him.

She had noticed that during their brief encounters, Sai seemed to lack any social inhibitions; he had no idea how to interact with other people and never had any opinions of his own. Her expression darkened slightly as her gaze shifted away from him and looked up to see Sasuke watching them.

The captain himself had been curious about what his teammate was doing so secretively. Glancing at the Hyuga beside him, it appeared as if he wasn't the only one concerned with the addition of this new, random member of anbu.

Sakura obviously knew something about the matter; the Hokage had most likely placed her on his team to watch this strange character, since it was unusual to have a four man team like theirs.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, relishing the feeling of a slight breeze that cooled his sweaty skin. He would have to clean his katana once he got home, and probably take a long shower. Speaking of home, he thought, looking at his team.

"Hyuga," he turned towards the brown haired man beside him, "Thank you for letting us use your training grounds, I believe we are done for today," he said with a nod.

Neji, with his every-sharp mind, must have realized that Sasuke wanted to speak with his team alone because with a nod, he poofed away.

With the Hyuga gone, Sasuke made his way to swiftly kick Naruto, causing the boy to call out, "Hey!"

Sleepy blue eyes cleared to look at his childhood friend and now captain with agitation, before groggily standing up and doing a mock salute. Naruto's outcry caught the attention of the other duo, because both Sakura and Sai made their way over to Sasuke.

The dark haired Uchiha glanced around at his team and refrained from letting out an annoyed groan.

"My mother has invited you over to dinner, at seven" he said, looking at their blank expressions.

Sakura was the first to speak, much to his irritation, "Oh!" she smiled, clapping her hands together, "When? Tonight?"

He nodded solemnly already dreading the dinner.

"Dattebayo" Naruto exclaimed, pumping an excited fist in the air, "I love your mother's cooking Sasuke, it's the best!"

"Thank you for the offer," Sai suddenly spoke up, causing all of them to fall silent and look at him curiously, "But, I won't be able to attend tonight."

Sasuke shrugged as a reply, but a part of his mind nagged him to ask why. What could the boy possibly have planned, after all he had no friends or family, and probably no social life at all. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he let it go to move on to the next topic.

"We also have a mission next week," he said, tugging his pouch to pull out the mission summary. He passed it around to his teammates, watching as each of them quickly memorized the details and absorbed the information.

"Border patrol?" Sakura questioned, "I thought they had more than enough people stationed there, especially with the current peace between the nations..." she droned off.

The Uchiha looked at her and nodded, it was a slightly strange mission in his opinion as well, "There's a small problem with bandits."

"I guess this mission is more to test our teamwork," she said tilting her head towards the scroll as Naruto read it.

"Aw man!" the blonde pouted, snapping the summary shut, "This looks so boring!"

Sasuke nodded, "It's just a warm up, but we should still be careful," he cleared his throat and accepted the scroll back, which he quickly tucked into his pouch.

"You're all dismissed," he said with a wave.

His teammates quickly transported away, all except for one.

"Haruno?" Sasuke questioned, with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

From the way she had her hands clasped behind her back, he knew that she wanted to say something. It was probably about the incident that happened yesterday, after all they hadn't had a chance to talk about it.

She inhaled deeply and met his eyes, "Taichou, since we're going to be on the same team, I think it would be best if we started over," Sakura explained with a nonchalant shrug.

"Start over?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"As in forget the rough start we had," she paused, eyes narrowing a bit, "However, in order to do so, I still want that physical for the hospital. It will only take a couple of minutes, it doesn't even have to be me. I can have some other nurse do it."

He pinched the bridge of his nose half in frustration and contemplation. It was probably a good idea that they made-up, after all if he ever wanted his team to be assigned harder missions, they would need to get along.

She was being irritating about the physical, though, he inwardly sighed. But if it got her to shut up he would concede.

Sasuke replied with a sharp nod, "But I want you to do it."

He had had some bad experiences with a couple of nurses at the hospital. Since Sakura didn't seem outwardly attracted to him, he supposed she wouldn't pull a fast one on him. Plus, she seemed professional enough, he was certain the Hokage wouldn't have chosen a perverted apprentice.

Then again there was Naruto and Jiraya...

"Thank you!" Sakura exclaimed with a bow, a bright grin filling her face, "I guess I'll see you tonight then Sasuke!" she quickly fixed her slip, "I mean Taichou!"

With a swirl of cherry blossoms she was gone, leaving Sasuke to deal with the petals that slowly floated down into his hair. He rolled his eyes, how annoying.

* * *

Sakura pushed the green store door open, relishing the feel of the crisp air present inside the Yamanaka store. She had never been to the famous flower store in Konoha, but had decided to go today just because it would be rude to show up empty handed at the Uchiha's house.

The store was simple in terms of decorations, but the variety of flowers and the aromas quickly made up for it. Her sensitive nose, which was used to picking up poisons, felt dizzy as it tried to absorb the myriad of smells, but she quickly adjusted.

Sakura skimmed the variety of choices, her hands gently touching a bunch of tulips which were probably imported from Iwagakure, since tulip season was over in Konoha.

She gasped suddenly, "No way!"

Crouching down she came to eye-level with a small, glass box that contained rare herbs that could only be harvested during a special type of season. She had seen it once during her travels, and had been quite mesmerized by its beauty. It contained three leaves, with a heart shaped flower hanging from a dainty stem.

"It's a love herb," a voice said from her right, "Dry it, grind it, and mix it into your crush's drink, it will guarantee a hook up."

Sakura hummed in disagreement, "A hoax, it causes a type of intoxication that only lasts temporarily. So, maybe a peck or two, nothing more."

At finishing her sentence, the pink haired girl looked up to meet who seemed to be the store owner. She had long platinum hair that covered one eye, and was wearing a purple outfit that revealed her toned mid-riff.

"I'm impressed," she nodded with a smirk, eyeing Sakura who was now standing, "I thought you were another love-sick teen, but from your outfit I can tell you're a shinobi."

The pinkette let out a laugh, "My name is Haruno Sakura."

"Oh! So you're Sakura!" she replied, eyes widening, "My name is Ino, Shika told me about you," the blonde said with a smile, "Welcome to Konoha, I guess now I'm not surprised that you knew about the herb."

Sakura grinned, "It's the fools-gold of plants, but I'm curious as to how you have it. As far as I know, these herbs only grow in cold climates."

"The box fakes a micro-environment, it's new technology from Orochimaru's lab, you probably know who he is though, right?" Ino inquired.

"Hai," Sakura replied.

Orochimaru was one of shishou's old friends. He was currently running a few laboratories around the shinobi nations, along with his side-kick Kabuto. She had briefly worked with Kabuto on engineering a drug for an epidemic that broke out in a small village near Oto, so she knew a bit of the sanin's research.

"Anyway, you obviously came here to buy something. How can I help you?" Ino asked, brushing her ponytail to the side.

"Oh, I just needed flowers. I'm having dinner at my Taichou's place tonight," Sakura said, looking around the store.

"Sasuke right? Hm, what do the Uchiha's like..." Ino thought, tapping the bottom of her lip.

The pink haired girl looked up suddenly, a bit surprised that the blonde knew about her team. Ino seemed to catch onto Sakura's curious gaze because she let out a laugh.

"Oh, I know everything that happens in Konoha," she said with a wave of a hand, asking Sakura to follow her, "I get whispers of this and that. You're quite lucky to have Sasuke on your team, he's so hot. Here we go!" she exclaimed, handing Sakura a bunch of daffodils.

"Unrequited love!?" Sakura questioned with scrunched eyebrows at the flower'ss meaning.

Ino sighed, "Silly, it can also mean new beginnings."

Sakura shrugged and allowed Ino to pull her to the front desk. She watched as the blonde quickly wrapped up the flowers with deft fingers, creating an elegant wrapping out of them.

Sakura was about to reach into her pocket to pay, when Ino's voice stopped her.

"It's on me!" she smiled, gently placing the flowers in Sakura's hands, "Take me out for a drink sometime, how about that?"

Her reply died in her throat, and Sakura just nodded instead, "Alright."

After saying goodbye to Ino, she made her way to the Uchiha compound. The first time she had gone to yell at Sasuke for his physical, it had been a rainy and dreary day, but despite that Sakura could still see the magnificence of the compound.

Unlike other clans, the Uchiha compound was like a mini-village within Konoha. They were a very numerous and well preserved clan, almost like the Hyuga's but to an even greater extent.

However, even within the Uchiha clan there were clan members who had not activated the sharingan and were more or less civilian. The main shinobi branches within the Uchiha clan were the real, powerful shinobi the clan was well known for. They were Sasuke, Itachi, Shisui and a few others who were praised for not only for their superior control of their eyes, but their talents as ninja as well.

Sakura adjusted the flowers in her hand and entered the Uchiha compound. There was a small buzz of activity as people went about, returning home from work, going out with friends; a few who she knew as patients greeted her with nods and waves, before going about with their business.

Sakura smiled in return, making her way to Sasuke's house. She flared her chakra and was about to knock on the door, when a light hand tapped her from behind.

"Karuhi!" Sakura let out with a jump and a gasp, her bandaged hand placed on her racing heart.

Maybe she was more nervous about this dinner than she had originally thought.

"Gosh, your acting like I was a fucking murderer, I didn't even suppress my chakra," Karuhi said with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura shook her head, "I know, I know, I guess I wasn't paying attention," she replied with a shrug, "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Karuhi let out a loud sigh, "I have to meet Miki's parents today."

The pink haired girl nodded. Uchiha Miki had been Karuhi's girlfriend for a while now; the two had been quite the players before they had met each other. Miki's parents probably wanted to know who had caught their daughter's attention for so long.

"They're quite liberal though, for Uchihas," Karuhi said shrugging, "Complete opposite of..." she didn't finish and instead nodded at the house.

Sakura bit her lip and couldn't help but agree, Fugaku was definitely the most conservative Uchiha in the clan.

"So, what are you doing outside the Uchiha head family's house?" Karuhi inquired, a smirk coming onto her lips, "Yelling at Sasuke again?"

Sakura grinned, "Nah, team dinner."

Her friend rolled her eyes, "Right, well have fun, it seems like your _Taichou_ is here."

Sakura immediately searched for his chakra which, sure enough, was quickly approaching the door. Karuhi shot her knowing look at her ignorance, before giving the girl a tight squeeze.

"Good luck," she whispered into Sakura's ear, just as the door swung open.

* * *

 **Sorry! I haven't updated for a while, I was actually finishing up my ED application. Personally, I don't think I will get in because I found out yesterday that this sport's person had also applied ed, and since the school prefers sports people over the artsy type I don't have much of a chance.**

 **Anyway, this chapter was supposed to be huge, but last minute I split it into two so I should have an update for you guys next week during Thanksgiving but no promises.**

 **No real plot yet, I'm just setting up my universe. But I think, next, next chapter during the mission the real story will start.**

 **Quick notes- you guys can decide what each character looks like. I won't go into detail about their clothes and appearances, because I feel like when you guys imagine this fic in your head it should be how you see Sakura, Sasuke, Itachi and others.**

 **I see Sakura (just in case u wanna know) as the one from the end of the Naruto manga (the scene where Sasuke catches her and stuff) and her clothing style is a bit more darker and mature. Maybe crop top, fishnet, pants, arm bandages, Idk it depends. Once again, this is my interpretation and I want to keep that open to you guys.**

 **Anyway, as always THANK YOU! I really love your support. If you have any questions let me know!**

 **QUICK QUESTION**

Who should Sakura's flirt buddy be? I'm leaning towards Neji, or do you guys want more of a subtle multisaku and strong sasusaku. Not much narusaku though, just the classic naruto's "sakura-chan" but nothing beyond that because I do plan on introducing naruhina eventually.


	6. Chapter 6

**O** Koishii **O**

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 _...thy eternal summer shall not fade,_

 _Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,_

 _Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,_

 _When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st._

 _So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,_

 _So long lives this, and this gives life to thee._

 _\- Shakespeare_

 **.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

 **O** Chapter Five **O**

It was truly an art despite what all the critics said.

The delicate process required a type of dedication, balance, and patience that was bestowed directly from the gods.

Ramen was an art, and Mikoto-san treated it that way.

Placing a hand on his cheek, he tried to stop a drop of drool from falling from his mouth as he closely watched the Uchiha matriarch prepare his favorite dish; Naruto was practically dying to finally eat.

The dim lights were splaying an even color around the room, lightly illuminating the edges of his golden hair and then bouncing off the red rimmed bowls that were displayed on the table.

Naruto had arrived first with the purpose of spying on Mikoto while she prepared her famous ramen; however, by the time he had reached, the vegetables had been evenly chopped and thrown in the pot with a specific concoction of spices that was special to the Uchiha family.

Thus, much to his disappointment, he missed out on the secret recipe once again. But, if there was one thing Naruto knew how to do it, it would be to persevere, after all, there would be many opportunities to steal the formula for himself.

Tapping the dark table lightly with his calloused fingers, he waited with a mix of boredom and anticipation until he suddenly felt a familiar chakra approaching the kitchen.

"Sakura-chan!"

Partially knocking his chair back, he bounded towards the girl and crashed into her, wrapping his orange clad arms onto her torso. He briefly heard Sasuke tsk, and move around them, probably to place the bouquet of daffodils he held into a vase.

"It's good to see you too Naruto," Sakura heaved out between the bone-crushing hug. She stepped back to take more of his weight, making eye contact with the woman behind them.

"Sakura!" Mikoto exclaimed, forcing Naruto to let go of the girl and let the older Uchiha have her chance as well.

"Thank you for coming," Mikoto said giving Sakura a brief hug, "I'm so happy you're in Sasuke's team," she smiled, grasping Sakura's hands in her own, "My heart's at ease knowing he is in good hands."

The pink haired girl repressed a snicker at Sasuke's annoyed groan from the background, and instead chose to squeeze Mikoto's hands back, "Of course, I'll take good care of him."

Naruto sat back down, watching as Mikoto forced Sakura into a chair next to him. His stomach unintentionally fluttered as Sakura turned to look at him and smiled; you could say he had somewhat of a crush on his new teammate.

However, his thoughts of love and romance suddenly switched towards the hot meal that was placed in front of them, as his mouth began water. Naruto repressed a groan at the self restraint he had to implement to stop himself from attacking the meal.

Sakura must have noticed his expression, because she giggled, "Naruto, just wait a few more minutes."

She shook her head and lightly patted the poor boy's shoulder.

"I know Sakura-chan!" he whined, "I'm just soo hungry!" .

Sasuke settled himself in front of the blonde and shook his head, "Dobe, I saw you eating at Ichiraku's just before you came here."

"Well that's because I have a high metabolism," Naruto countered, briefly glancing at Sakura to confirm he had used the right word.

Sakura smiled, "You should try to eat healthier though Naruto."

"I agree," Mikoto said, as she made her way towards the table with the last dish. She placed it gently in the center, and sat down next to Sasuke and across from Sakura, giving the girl a grin.

"Is Itachi-san on a mission?" Sakura inquired, noticing the absence of his powerful chakra.

Mikoto nodded, and shifted in her seat, "Aa, he left today morning I believe, or... I don't even know anymore, the boy has been taking a lot of missions lately," she heaved with a sigh and shake of a head.

She glanced around at the meal she had prepared. It had taken her quite a while, but Mikoto enjoyed cooking; it was a pleasant task especially since Sasuke had helped her today.

There was a colorful array of bowls on the table that suited a variety of tastes. From spicy, to mild, to tomato laden ones- she was quite proud of her work and especially the arrangement, which was just as important as the actual food quality.

Nodding to herself inwardly, Mikoto was about to clasp her hands together and commence the meal, when the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Maybe it was because she was so attuned to his presence, but despite the suppressed chakra signature, she could still feel Fugaku's silent footsteps as they made their way to the kitchen.

The bamboo screen door opened, and it was as though a wave of anxiety swept through the room as everyone stiffened.

"Oh! Anata!" Mikoto said with a slight edge, "I thought you would be at work."

Fugaku's dark eyes rested on hers, "So it seems, since you've planned a slight gathering here."

He looked ruffled and tired, nothing like the young man Mikoto had married so many years ago. It seems like people changed in more than just appearances though, since she didn't miss the cold stare he was sending her way.

Sakura tensed at his voice, especially since she knew of his genuine dislike for her and, as she glanced towards the frowning blonde, apparently Naruto too. She made brief eye contact with her blue-eyed teammate, and silently agreed to get up and bow out of respect; however, Fugaku raised his hands just as they were about to.

"Naruto, Sakura," he nodded in acknowledgement, "Please remain seated, I will be joining you as well for dinner."

Fugaku made his way towards the head of the table, almost arrogantly sitting down at the extra plate that had been prepared there just in case. He looked expectantly at his wife and then clasped his hands.

"Itadakimasu," he spoke lowly, prompting the rest of the table to say their own respects.

Mikoto used all her self control to prevent from lashing out at her husband. She could feel how uncomfortable everyone had suddenly become, especially Sasuke who had become purely rigid from his father's arrival.

However, she refused to be outplayed by him.

"Naruto!" Mikoto said almost harshly, causing the blonde to look up suddenly as though she were going to reprimand him, "How's the ramen?" she asked, now in a lighter tone.

"It's great Mikoto-san," he relaxed and grinned, "I guess I'll just have to find out your secret recipe next time," he said with a pout more to himself.

Mikoto laughed taking another bite of her chicken. She didn't miss the way Naruto quickly returned to his food, or the way that Sasuke continued to move stiffly beside her.

"So, Sakura," the matriarch said now moving to bug the silent girl, "Tell us about your travels."

The pink head swallowed her food slowly, a little unsure about speaking, "Well... I've been to a lot of big villages, especially trading ones..." _because of_ _shishou's gambling habits,_ she dryly added to herself.

"We've been to smaller ones too, places that aren't even on the map," Sakura explained poking her food lightly with her chopsticks before placing them in her mouth.

If there was one thing she wouldn't change about her childhood, it would be her years with shishou and the time she spent exploring the world. The wisdom she had gained from the experience and from meeting new people, would never match the inky, black and white descriptions in the textbooks: the world had too much color.

Mikoto spoke again, dragging Sakura back to reality, "So, how exactly did you train then? And who trained you?"

This seemed to gain the interest of all the members of the table, including Fugaku who probably wanted to learn the secrets of the Hokage.

Sakura thought about her answer; she didn't want to reveal too much information, but at the same time she still wanted to provide a full answer.

"Shishou and Shizune-senpai mainly taught me," she paused for a moment to decide whether she wanted to elaborate, especially with everyone's eyes practically staring her down.

"I also learned from a lot of different masters around the nations. I spent a lot of time learning about katana with another sensei from Earth." Sakura explained.

Much to everyone's surprise it was Fugaku who spoke up, "What was his name?" he inquired, curiosity laced in his eyes.

Sakura turned towards him, "Kita Shusuke."

It was probably the first, and maybe last time, Sakura saw the Uchiha head look genuinely surprised. Apparently Mikoto and Sasuke were also taken back by his expression, as evident from the glance they shared.

"You trained under Shusuke?"Fugaku asked almost as a confirmation.

"Hai, do you know him?" Sakura replied.

Fugaku rested his chopsticks down and sighed, nodding his head slowly, "I'm greatly indebted to him."

"Mikoto," he looked up at his wife with something other than anger for the first time, "Do you remember that mission I had to Earth when Shi-san died."

His wife tapped her chin in contemplation, "Ah, I was pregnant with Itachi during that time, I was so worried because we all thought you had died."

Fugaku did his own version of what Sakura could guess was a chuckle, "When they brought me back you clung on to me until the nurse had to pry you off."

Sasuke spoke up in confusion, "Otou-san?" This was the first time he had heard this story.

"Anbu had sent me on a mission to retrieve a rumored scroll that had an ancient jutsu written in it. We were eventually lead to a small village in Earth, where we were brutally ambushed," Fugaku shook his head at the absolute stupidity of it.

"One of my teammates, Hyuuga Shin, stayed behind to let us go ahead. I was injured and only made it a few miles before I passed out. When I woke up I found myself in someone's home, at first I thought they had found me and captured me, but it turns out it wasn't the case."

Kita Shusuke had saved him so many years ago, Fugaku could barely move, yet the man nursed him back to complete health and even helped him return home safely. Shusuke had belonged to a family that had lived in Earth for centuries, but he himself was completely against the war and had been fined numerous times for avoiding the draft.

"I survived because of him,"he concluded with a nod, turning towards Sakura, "I'm sure he was a hard sensei though, none of the boys I saw while I was there could complete their training."

Sakura shrugged finally at ease, "Shizune-sempai had taught me a little bit before, so I had some prior experience, but yes it had been a struggle."

Fugaku nodded in understanding, "Sasuke learned how to wield a katana under one of the sanin" he said tilting his head towards his son, "you probably know him, Orochimaru-san."

"Hai, I worked in his lab for sometime I suppose Taichou had already left by then," Sakura said looking at her captain.

"Probably," Sasuke shrugged returning her look with a question, "I've never seen you with a katana before."

"I have a seal on my back," Sakura explained, not going into greater detail despite the curious stares that turned her way.

There were a lot of secrets Sakura would take to the grave, and this was probably one of them. She had gotten the seal from an ancient family in return from saving their clan members from an attack by some missing-nin organization.

"It would be cool to see both of you spar," Naruto said, through a mouthful of food.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly on her and she couldn't help but produce a small smirk. Their first minor skirmish had resulted in an easy victory for her, most likely because the arrogant Uchiha underestimated her.

A loud poof suddenly distracted the group from their conversation, as heads turned towards the anbu that had entered. Mikoto wanted to lash out at the boy for interrupting their bonding session, but after a second of observing the anbu, her eyes widened.

He was on Itachi's team and from the blood that was dripping down his outfit and staining his light hair, Mikoto could immediately tell Itachi was hurt.

"Did something happen to him?" Mikoto asked, her hands clasping together underneath the table.

The masked anbu nodded hesitantly at the pairs of eyes, three bleeding red, that were pointedly on him. He turned his blue rimmed mask towards Sakura and spoke:

"Tsunade needs your help, she says..." he hesitated, "she hasn't seen anything like this before."

Sakura rose quickly from her chair followed by the rest of the party who were suddenly worried, "I'm going to go ahead," she nodded towards them before disappearing in a poof of petals.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded, the anbu after she left, helping his mom into her seat.

"Ya! What happened to Itachi," Naruto asked, concern laced in his blue eyes.

It was normal for shinobi to come home injured and bleeding, but something didn't feel right to Naruto this time. He had known Itachi for most of his life, and knew the bastard had only gone to the hospital a few times, something must have gone wrong.

The anbu inwardly sucked a breathe of air, technically he wasn't allowed to disclose any information about their mission to parties outside of the Hokage, but these were Uchiha, he was sure they would extract it out of his brain if they had to.

"It should have been a quick mission, but on our way back Itachi suddenly started coughing blood," he explained.

Fugaku's eyes narrowed, "He wasn't attacked?"

The anbu shook his head, "No it wasn't a physical wound."

"Maybe he was poisoned? A senbon that you didn't notice?" Mikoto probed.

"No Uchiha-san, we didn't come across any shinobi nin," the anbu explained, suddenly bowing, "I'm sorry but I can't give out more information."

Fugaku scowled waving his hand dismissively, before turning towards his wife, "He isn't sick is he?"

Mikoto frowned, "He had a physical, I mean, they didn't catch anything."

"Unless," Naruto interjected, "It was one of those annoying fangirl nurses, then they probably coped a feel and let Itachi pass without actually checking him."

Despite the stupidity behind his statement, Naruto did have a point. It could be possible that Itachi had been able to skip the basic procedures to get the requirements cleared.

Sasuke growled, "It doesn't matter, I'm going to the hospital," he said gruffly, disappearing.

Aniki what are you hiding?

* * *

"What do you think?" Tsunade inquired, her caramel eyes resting on the furrowed brows of her apprentice because of her slight height advantage.

They were in rectangular hospital room, a whiff of antiseptic and sickness was in the air, a smell that they were all used to. Uchiha Itachi lay on the bed, his skin pale was only emphasized by the black mane that lay tangled around his head.

"You were right about saying it was unusual,"Sakura mumbled focusing on her hands.

There was a huge mass in Itachi's lungs with many other smaller masses located around them, one had begun sprouting in his heart. They seemed to be clumps of unusual cells that were mutated and replicating incessantly, and a black muck surrounding them that bothered Sakura.

Shishou had healed many of the damaged areas allowing Itachi to rest easy for now. There was something else that was nagging her though, apparently Uchiha Itachi was nearly blind.

"What did the anbu say?" Sakura asked.

The Hokage pulled a seat to sit down, she deserved some rest after stabilizing the Uchiha heir; kami she desperately wanted sake, the strong bitter kind that was imported fro-

"Shishou?"

"They said he randomly started hacking up blood on the way back until he fell unconscious," Shizune replied in place, as she entered the room, a frown adoring her face with knowledge about what Tsunade was thinking.

"But look at this," the brown haired woman said handing Sakura the bloody cloth they found when changing Itachi into hospital robes.

The apprentice gasped, "It's old blood..."

Tsunade scowled and snatched the cloth from Sakura, "That bastard, this has been happening for a while."

"What about his physical? Surely they caught something," Sakura asked, grabbing his file from the table next to the prostate Uchiha.

Green eyes quickly scanned the details her mouth turning downward, "Nothing, there's nothing. But how?"

The Hokage plopped down in her seat and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "This place is a mess, why did I ever... "

Shizune tsked, propping a hand on her hip, "Now is not the time, we need to figure this out."

Tsunade let in a deep breathe of air. She had become a medic because of her inability to save the precious ones in her life, Itachi meant something for someone and she refused to let anyone else feel that same pain of loss.

"Right, Sakura what course of action do you think we should take?" she asked, wondering if the apprentice was having the same thoughts.

"I say we extract the black substance first, it has poison-like quality and it seems like it's protecting the mutated cells," Sakura answered.

It could be some protein substance produced from the mutated cells, maybe caused by exposure to powerful jutsus from such a young age and, as Sakura remembered the near-blind eyes, from using the sharingan too much.

"Then we cut out the cells and make sure the main progenitor is destroyed," she finished firmly.

"Hm, I was thinking the same thing," Tsunade nodded with approval.

Shizune smiled too, "We'll have to go slowly though, I say we target the one in the heart and the major one in the lungs, he can live with the smaller ones for a while."

An approaching small chakra signature and knock on the door quickly hushed the room of medics, as a nervous nurse entered and quickly bowed.

"H-hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke is here demanding the condition of his brother," she stated, blushing slightly.

"Sakura," Tsunade turned towards the girl, "Go talk to the little pest and then prepare for surgery, I want to start immediately."

The pink haired apprentice nodded, making her way quickly out of the room and into the bleach white hospital hallway. She could already see the dark shadow of Sasuke standing further down and approached him, letting her chakra release slightly to make her presence known.

"Taichou," Sakura called out as she reached him, giving him a small smile.

She was observant enough to realize that despite his cool exterior the boy was genuinely worried. It was times when Sasuke seemed the most aloof that he actually cared the most.

"How is he?" he asked, picking himself against the wall he was leaning on.

Sakura lightly licked her lips, "We have a plan of action, however we're not completely sure if it may work because we've never seen-"

Sasuke's nostrils snared slightly in what she could guess was anger, "Your saying the best medics in the world, don't know what's wrong with my brother?"

She supposed it was a slight compliment, but Sakura couldn't help but ignite a little at the slight poke at their intelligence.

"He's sick and has been sick for a while. Maybe, if someone had caught it earlier or people had paid more attention, Itachi-san wouldn't be in this situation."

The Uchiha clenched his fist, as he stepped into her personal bubble, a hand coming to slightly cage her into the wall, "I don't like what you're implying."

"Well, I didn't like what you were implying either," she snapped back poking his chest for emphasis.

"Look, Sasuke I don't have time for this," Sakura heaved, pinching the bridge of her nose, _so much for starting over._

"I need to go prep for the operation, so if you would move..." she said, gesturing with her hand.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "Haruno, you will call me Taichou and you will treat me with respect."

Sakura looked up into his eyes, that were threatening to bleed red, "Well, _Taichou,_ if you don't let me go, your brother's survival chances will be even slimmer."

The Uchiha stepped back and let her pass without a word, watching Sakura as she gave him a mocking, majestic bow before walking into what he could only guess was the medic locker room.

Now all he could do was wait.

* * *

 **I have been a total poo and not posted ugh. But here it is! I've heard back from a couple of schools now, financially though I think Stony Brook is the best, so if you know/attend the school please let me know what ya think! I will be joining the honors college for biomedical engineering so lmk!  
**

 **Thank you for all the support I know I am annoying but what can ya do. If you ever have any questions/concerns/hate/love pm me! I love hearing from everyone.**

 **Again, BETA NEEDED- WILL HELP ME WRITE FASTER.**

QUICK QUESTION  
Does anyone watch Outlander? Just started it and I freaking love it!  
What game plays do you recommend? I've seen Outlast, Witch's House, and now Beyond Two Souls, but I'm still new to this whole video game geeky/awesome world. I hated markiplier in the beginning but now I love him.


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